THE GIFTS OF GOD — Sondra Ray and Markus Ray on A Course in Miracles

“I walk with God in perfect holiness.” Do we keep this in our awareness during the day? If not, why not? If this is the real Source of our Joy, then it would follow that we do not really want Joy if we are not stepping back and following our Source. We inadvertently follow “pain and suffering” then. Maybe the ego does not want us to realize we are doing this, but we are. However, we always have another way to choose. This is the journey of our True Self that is already in us to follow.

What does it mean to step back and let Him lead the way? Who is He, whom leads the way? And where would He be leading you? These are the questions this lesson brings up in us. The Christ is the one we are invoking in this lesson to “lead the way.” A state of mind that is in a state of happiness is the destination. Are we willing to step back, put our directions aside, and go the way towards this inner transformation? This is what the Lesson is asking us to do.

We have a message of innocence to deliver. We did not write the message, but we have been chosen to deliver it to those appointed us. Will we choose to follow this direction, listening to the "Voice for God?" We have free will to cooperate with this mission or not. We have free will to join with the Christ in us or not. Why not if it brings us more joy? Being among the ministers of God means that we accept the message of sinlessness in order to give it. In the giving we realize we have received it. 

No Lesson in A Course in Miracles reverses the thinking of the world as much as this one. The ego associates "safety" with "defenses." In reality it is just the opposite. A Mind that is safe has no need for defenses, because it sees it cannot be threatened, hurt, or made to do what it does not choose. This is the Lesson in which we begin to "identify" with the Christ Consciousness within us. This is a practice we all need. In this Divine Connection is true safety, which requires no defenses to maintain. 

What is the “power of decision?” What are we deciding? Nothing short of being the Master of our Divine Destiny we share with our Creator. This is one of the KEY LESSONS in the Workbook of A Course in Miracles. This lesson is a matter of “life or death.” This power of decision lies in our own hands, not in some force “beyond our control.” Truly we have things to clean up in our life, and order to re-establish. But ultimately, Immortality is God’s will for us. Can we make this decision is the question?

This is the first lesson in the next section of 20 lessons. "All things are echoes of the Voice for God." Can we give up our own judgments of people and things? We must if we would like to be shown Christ's Vision. The Voice for God can give us the one JUDGMENT of innocence that is our Truth. This we extend to our brothers, and transmute all we thought before into the Truth. We can let go into this Energy of God's Voice. 

In Estonia we presented a “Spiritual Cleaning Training.” This is the talk we gave, translated into Estonian, on ACIM. There were many people who had not heard of it before. What is the basic truth that A Course in Miracles is trying to help us realize? What is the purpose of studying this thought System of Christ Consciousness? These are a couple of the questions answered in this Podcast talk (with Estonian translation).

This is the last lesson of Review IV. "My mind holds only what I think with God; I will accept atonement for myself; Only salvation can be said to cure." Are we ready to see ourselves in a different light? Complete forgiveness is the atonement. And this is the pathway to curing all that ails us. This is what ACIM calls "salvation." The questions is, "Can we accept it?" 

We are in the momentum of suffering. The root of this suffering is our imagined separation from the Source of Life. Healing is a decision we make to be connected to our Source in our awareness. This connection is free of suffering and despair. Then we can begin to “clean up” our projections of sickness and defenses. Others are positively affected by this healing. It does not occur in isolation. We are unified together with our Source and with our brothers and sisters.

Defenses attract attack. By the time we pick up a defense, in essence, we are perceiving ourselves as "already attacked." This leads to more trouble, and might even manifest as a "sickness." Anger held in the mind over a period of time can easily make the "body" sick. Anger is a defense, and defenses attract attack, sickness, and a state of being NOT in touch with our Inner Peace and Joy. Realizing Peace and Joy is God's will for us. Anything short of that is not the truth with a capital "T."